Lucifer rubbed the bridge of his nose. “She could heal just as easily under the wards you placed around my home.”
“She stays here.” His voice held an edge that my dad rarely displayed. After what he lost today—whatwelost—it shouldn’t have surprised me. “Sophie can take care of her, and I’m never far if she needs me. Right now, though, you need to go check in with the covens and our other allies. Oya came through quickly—”
“I’m not leaving her side until she wakes.”
Loki straightened, baring his teeth at Lucifer. Seeing all the emotions my dad never showed both worried me and reassured me. Right now, worry won over when it looked like they were about to start fighting over my unconscious body. I wasn’t some piece of meat to fight over!
“You,” he began through gritted teeth, poking a finger into Lucifer’s chest. “I warned you about Lilith when she first landed in Salem. Your willful ignorance caused my brother’s death, my son’s death, and my daughter’s current condition.”
That’s right. Lilith was there.
Coming to in an astral state had freaked me out enough that I’d nearly forgotten. Whatever that amulet on Leviathan’s head did, Lilith was using it to keep him under her control. She’d booted me from Leviathan’s mind, she’d—
“Just because you hate her doesn’t mean she’s behind every little scheme,” Lucifer growled, though he didn’t sound convinced, himself. “You need proof, and it looked to me like she was coming to help and Leviathan broke free and tossed her.”
Loki’s fists clenched at his sides and I wanted so badly to reach out and hug him. “I’m staying with my daughter until her roommate shows up. You need to regroup with our allies and figure out the next step, because we will fight and we will win. That’s the only way to make their sacrifices worth anything.” A nerve in his jaw twitched and he stepped back, collapsing into my desk chair. “I’ll join you all later, but I’d rather not be in the same room as you right now.”
I thought Lucifer was going to keep arguing, but after a few tense seconds, he nodded. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead that I felt as a warm tingle. “Text me with any updates.”
Then he walked through the door and left the apartment. Loki turned in the chair to watch my empty body, and I wanted nothing more than to comfort him the way he always had for me when my magic acted up or when I got bullied at school. My dad had been my rock, and it killed me that I couldn’t do anything for him now when he was hurting so badly.
He leaned forward and picked my hand up, pressing his lips to my fingers. The sensation traveled, and I rubbed my incorporeal hands together.
“Lexi, my sweet youngest, please find your way back,” he murmured.
Setting my hand back down, he stood and left, though I felt the chaotic flicker of his magic close by for a while afterwards. I took his spot on the chair and stared at myself, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do now.
Could I will myself back into my body? Or lay down in the same space and just… be whole again?
I tried everything I could think of for at least a couple hours, but I was running low on ideas. Astral travel was advanced witch magic, and I was doing good these days if I didn’t blow up simple spells by accident. I only knew of the ability, but absolutely nothing about what I was supposed to do with it or how to turn it off.
As dusk settled outside, my door opened again. Sophie poked her head in, eyes red and cheeks damp with tears. Even crying, my best friend was gorgeous.
But why was Sophie crying? Had something happened to her today, too? Had she been in the city when the demons attacked? Or was she crying because of me?
I couldn’t remember the last time I saw her like this, if ever. Sure, I’d been a blubbering mess a time or two, and she’d been there with a cup of hot coffee, some popcorn, and a new old movie to watch together. She scrubbed at her cheeks as she approached the bed and sat down on the edge, taking my hand.
“You need to wake up, Red,” she said, her voice cracking. “We’ve got a lot to talk about, and I can’t do this without you.”
Seeing Sophie this way broke me even more than my dad had. Fierce protectiveness surged through me at the idea that someone might’ve hurt her, my fearless, ferocious, very forward personal trainer with a heart of gold and a pocket knife fetish. This time, as the third person left my room today, I followed. I wasn’t sure how far I could go away from my body before I was in danger, but I didn’t think the living room was too far.
I sat on the couch as Sophie curled up in one corner, clutching an embroidered pillow to her chest. She just looked so heartbroken, so lost, and I was dying to know what happened so I could go fix it. Maybe I didn’t have to move out just yet. Surely I could wait another year or two, until Sophie got her degree and moved on to bigger and better things.
The door burst open with a resounding crack and Sophie and I both jumped. I recognized the flavor of Lilith’s magic from earlier, but she’d shed her supermodel look for something much more cliché. Leathery wings shifted behind her as she stepped through the doorway. Horns jutted out of her head and spiraled around her ears like a ram, and her skin had taken on a red hue. Her hands were tipped with sharp claws, and a tail swished back and forth across the floor like an angry cat.
Sophie leapt up, but instead of running like I expected, she put herself directly in Lilith’s path. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave now.”
Lilith curled her lip, and a spike of fear ripped through me. Why wasn’t Sophie running? She knew everything about me, about the crazy shit I was mixed up in, but she was only human. I grabbed my head, trying to force myself back into my body one more time. Sophie needed my help, and Lilith needed to be put down.
“I’m just here for the devil’s little whore,” the demoness snarled. “I hadn’t planned on killing any humans today, but I will, so be a good little bitch and move out of my way.”
Sophie moved, but not out of the way. She took another step toward Lilith, and I was on the verge of a panic attack. If anything happened to her because of me—
“Try me if you dare, snake,” Sophie growled, her entire demeanor changing, “but you’ll be scraping yourself from the four corners of the earth before you lay a hand on my daughter.”
…Daughter?
Power exploded hard enough to knock me back, and as I scrambled back to my feet, I got tangled in a blanket and fell into a chair. I was in my room. I was in mybody!
